December 23, 2018
As 2018 ends, my hand writing journey begins. I am excited about that. I am slowing increasing the amount of time and words I am hand writing every day. While not quite ready yet, Christmas is coming!
Today I received my first "very own" fountain pen from my preferred seller. It is a beginner's fountain pen, to be sure. That does not mean, however that it has neither style nor quality. This fountain pen has plenty of both!
I purchased (closeout) a Nemostine Singularity fountain pen. Click the link for pictures and the MSRP for this pen. I did not pay this price for this pen. My preferred retailer has them (as of this writing) on a closeout special. If this instrument interests you, I would highly suggest you hurry on over now. Their closeout specials have a history of closing out quickly. (They truly mean what they say!) Tell them I sent you. Don't worry, they will still fulfill your order with the highest superior customer service excellence. (I mean, they certainly did for me!)
If you click the link It seems that I have already chosen a theme for the looks of my fountain pens: Black or dark blue (not the ink, the PEN!) :) and either Gold or Silver appointments seems to be a trend. This instrument comes with a silver German steel fine point nib, and a silver cartridge converter (proprietary to Nemosine). It will have to sit and warm up for a couple of days (and it felt cold out of the package) since I have no ink yet.
I will flush it before putting ink into it. This is one of the basic, fundamental maintenance points of fountain pen ownership. ALWAYS flush new pens before using ink in them! Some pens are ink-tested before shipping. If you purchase a new fountain pen (and I hope that you do), and see ink traces around the NIB (sharp pointy thingey), the FEED (the fin-looking things usually behind and around the nib) the CONVERTER (the cylindrical ink-holding thingey inside the pen's BARREL, in/on the barrel itself, and/or in the pen's CAP (the part you use to cover and close the pen, you may have one of several problems. There is one exception, and that has to do with manufacturers that ink-test before shipping.
All of these parts need to be flushed until the fluid coming out of the pen is completely clear. Then you dry every part of the pen, and leave it to air dry. ONLY THEN should you "ink up" your fountain pen for first use.
This is also a great time to begin what I hope will become a permanent habit for your hand writing experience with fountain pens. These writing instruments are very individualistic. Some pens have general characteristics as well as specific characteristics that you really need to learn and remember. This is regardless of the price or quality of the fountain pen, by the way. Like an automobile, maintenance is prevention. And, as was once uttered:
As great maintenance can increase the pleasure and longevity of hand writing with your instrument, it can also add to the quality of the experience. Bad maintenance can kill a very expensive pen as fast as dropping it onto concrete nib-first. (These are, generally not very fun instruments to hand write with!) A very significant percentage of fountain pen research and manufacture/production has to do with the nib itself. It is very often true (but not universally so), especially for lower priced instruments that replacing the nib is more expensive than the purchase of a second pen of identical manufacture.
However, even a lower priced instrument can last much longer than a lifetime if properly maintained. Also remember that every writing instrument is not only unique, but unique to YOU. Your writing habits, form, posture, pressure, speed, etc. become a part of the instrument. That pen will mold, over time into YOUR pen. This is why, even for less expensive instruments, you NEVER let anyone else hand write with YOUR pen.
I have a few more pens in process from a few vendors. I'll tell you about them as I receive them. I am not, nor do I intend to become a pen collector. I will have more than one fountain pen, to be sure. But I do not anticipate the purchase of any more fountain pens this year. Ink? Don't get me started! Bottles and cartridges are winging their ways to me. The pens are for learning and understanding the instruments themselves. The inks are for investigation of how they respond to those pens. I am choosing only highest standard paper for my hand writing because not only do I deserve it, but my pens and my writing do, too.
And, there you have the formula for a perfect writing experience (before you create the first letter).
1. The pen.
Knowing your fountain pen takes some time, but you should, in time, know it as well as you can. Your learning will grown with time, experience, feedback from conversation with other owners of your fountain pen, and of course YouTube reviews. Forums exist, and can be quite informative. There are clubs, and shows (Who knew??) as well.
2. Know your paper.
A great instrument writing on bad paper can be truly a disaster for your hand writing experience. Sometimes, you may not have an option as to the paper you must put your pen to. Sometimes (most times) you do. Choose wisely. In the long run, it is less expensive to keep higher quality paper on hand for your hand writing. It will be more pleasurable, and more efficient if your goal is clean, crisp and clear communication--especially for those "special" times, when your writing is your calling card. Higher quality paper usually leads to less scratchiness and/or feedback. Higher quality paper tends not to transfer its fiber into the nib of your fountain pen.
3. Know your ink.
The ink matters as well. Parker makes fountain pens. Parker makes inks. Both are very good, in my opinion--generally speaking. It is not necessarily the case, however that you will have the best experience by using a Parker pen with Parker ink. Again, that has to do with the choices you make with the previous two components of the success formula for hand writing with a fountain pen. As you may not yet realize, the spectrum upon which fountain pen inks lie is about as wide as the distance from here to the moon--and back. Generally speaking fountain pen writers do not select their favorite inks, they develop them over time. More on this later, but just know that bottled inks are not for every person, and surely NOT for every fountain pen. Is it "safe" to use the ink that may come to you with your new fountain pen? Usually yes--if it comes packaged by the pen manufacturer. There are exceptions that we can talk about later.
Pen, ink, paper. Writing versus maintaining. User versus collector. I'm learning that this is a really large, and (for me) largely unexplored universe. I look forward to this journey. I have a fairly good notion of what I will be doing this Christmas. I hope you will be, too. Let me know in the comments how it goes for you. I'll let you know here how it goes for me. And, remember,
Writing is FUN!
Bud
As 2018 ends, my hand writing journey begins. I am excited about that. I am slowing increasing the amount of time and words I am hand writing every day. While not quite ready yet, Christmas is coming!
Today I received my first "very own" fountain pen from my preferred seller. It is a beginner's fountain pen, to be sure. That does not mean, however that it has neither style nor quality. This fountain pen has plenty of both!
I purchased (closeout) a Nemostine Singularity fountain pen. Click the link for pictures and the MSRP for this pen. I did not pay this price for this pen. My preferred retailer has them (as of this writing) on a closeout special. If this instrument interests you, I would highly suggest you hurry on over now. Their closeout specials have a history of closing out quickly. (They truly mean what they say!) Tell them I sent you. Don't worry, they will still fulfill your order with the highest superior customer service excellence. (I mean, they certainly did for me!)
If you click the link It seems that I have already chosen a theme for the looks of my fountain pens: Black or dark blue (not the ink, the PEN!) :) and either Gold or Silver appointments seems to be a trend. This instrument comes with a silver German steel fine point nib, and a silver cartridge converter (proprietary to Nemosine). It will have to sit and warm up for a couple of days (and it felt cold out of the package) since I have no ink yet.
I will flush it before putting ink into it. This is one of the basic, fundamental maintenance points of fountain pen ownership. ALWAYS flush new pens before using ink in them! Some pens are ink-tested before shipping. If you purchase a new fountain pen (and I hope that you do), and see ink traces around the NIB (sharp pointy thingey), the FEED (the fin-looking things usually behind and around the nib) the CONVERTER (the cylindrical ink-holding thingey inside the pen's BARREL, in/on the barrel itself, and/or in the pen's CAP (the part you use to cover and close the pen, you may have one of several problems. There is one exception, and that has to do with manufacturers that ink-test before shipping.
All of these parts need to be flushed until the fluid coming out of the pen is completely clear. Then you dry every part of the pen, and leave it to air dry. ONLY THEN should you "ink up" your fountain pen for first use.
This is also a great time to begin what I hope will become a permanent habit for your hand writing experience with fountain pens. These writing instruments are very individualistic. Some pens have general characteristics as well as specific characteristics that you really need to learn and remember. This is regardless of the price or quality of the fountain pen, by the way. Like an automobile, maintenance is prevention. And, as was once uttered:
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
As great maintenance can increase the pleasure and longevity of hand writing with your instrument, it can also add to the quality of the experience. Bad maintenance can kill a very expensive pen as fast as dropping it onto concrete nib-first. (These are, generally not very fun instruments to hand write with!) A very significant percentage of fountain pen research and manufacture/production has to do with the nib itself. It is very often true (but not universally so), especially for lower priced instruments that replacing the nib is more expensive than the purchase of a second pen of identical manufacture.
However, even a lower priced instrument can last much longer than a lifetime if properly maintained. Also remember that every writing instrument is not only unique, but unique to YOU. Your writing habits, form, posture, pressure, speed, etc. become a part of the instrument. That pen will mold, over time into YOUR pen. This is why, even for less expensive instruments, you NEVER let anyone else hand write with YOUR pen.
I have a few more pens in process from a few vendors. I'll tell you about them as I receive them. I am not, nor do I intend to become a pen collector. I will have more than one fountain pen, to be sure. But I do not anticipate the purchase of any more fountain pens this year. Ink? Don't get me started! Bottles and cartridges are winging their ways to me. The pens are for learning and understanding the instruments themselves. The inks are for investigation of how they respond to those pens. I am choosing only highest standard paper for my hand writing because not only do I deserve it, but my pens and my writing do, too.
And, there you have the formula for a perfect writing experience (before you create the first letter).
1. The pen.
Knowing your fountain pen takes some time, but you should, in time, know it as well as you can. Your learning will grown with time, experience, feedback from conversation with other owners of your fountain pen, and of course YouTube reviews. Forums exist, and can be quite informative. There are clubs, and shows (Who knew??) as well.
2. Know your paper.
A great instrument writing on bad paper can be truly a disaster for your hand writing experience. Sometimes, you may not have an option as to the paper you must put your pen to. Sometimes (most times) you do. Choose wisely. In the long run, it is less expensive to keep higher quality paper on hand for your hand writing. It will be more pleasurable, and more efficient if your goal is clean, crisp and clear communication--especially for those "special" times, when your writing is your calling card. Higher quality paper usually leads to less scratchiness and/or feedback. Higher quality paper tends not to transfer its fiber into the nib of your fountain pen.
3. Know your ink.
The ink matters as well. Parker makes fountain pens. Parker makes inks. Both are very good, in my opinion--generally speaking. It is not necessarily the case, however that you will have the best experience by using a Parker pen with Parker ink. Again, that has to do with the choices you make with the previous two components of the success formula for hand writing with a fountain pen. As you may not yet realize, the spectrum upon which fountain pen inks lie is about as wide as the distance from here to the moon--and back. Generally speaking fountain pen writers do not select their favorite inks, they develop them over time. More on this later, but just know that bottled inks are not for every person, and surely NOT for every fountain pen. Is it "safe" to use the ink that may come to you with your new fountain pen? Usually yes--if it comes packaged by the pen manufacturer. There are exceptions that we can talk about later.
Pen, ink, paper. Writing versus maintaining. User versus collector. I'm learning that this is a really large, and (for me) largely unexplored universe. I look forward to this journey. I have a fairly good notion of what I will be doing this Christmas. I hope you will be, too. Let me know in the comments how it goes for you. I'll let you know here how it goes for me. And, remember,
Writing is FUN!
Bud
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